Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Carbon nanotubes are used in many applications due to a unique structure that enables strength, flexibility, and unique electrical properties. Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon that have a cylindrical fullerene structure, and may be categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNT) or multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT). As the names suggest, SWNTs are cylinders composed of a single wall, while MWNTs include multiple (two or more) concentric cylinders.
A strength and flexibility of carbon nanotubes results from covalent sp2 bonds formed between individual carbon atoms in the carbon nanotube. In one example, carbon nanotubes have been shown to be as much as 100 times stronger than steel. Electrical properties in carbon nanotubes result from a nearly one-dimensional electronic structure, which allows electronic transport to occur ballistically with reduced scattering of electrons. This may allow carbon nanotubes to carry higher currents with reduced heating.